The present invention relates generally to the field of distributing messages over a communication network.
Brokers who work on the floor of a modern stock or commodity exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange, must have the ability to be on their feet and communicate with other persons on the floor of the exchange. Among a floor broker""s other duties, the floor broker has to be able to memorialize transactions and provide quotations. In particular, it is often advantageous if a broker can provide a free-flow of information to a trading desk or persons who are located physically off the exchange floor. However, the New York Stock Exchange and other major exchanges (including commodity exchanges) in accordance with Federal law prohibit a floor broker from directly communicating with any person off the floor. In addition, a nonmember cannot enter an order directly with a broker on the floor of the exchange.
Instead, the floor broker must communicate with the trading booth on the floor of the exchange. The clerk in the trading booth is then permitted to speak with the trading desk. (This is commonly known as the xe2x80x9ckiss-the-boothxe2x80x9d rule.) The kiss the booth rule also works in the reverse direction. That is, if the trading desk wishes a market quote from a floor broker, the trading desk would telephone the clerk in booth who would then ask the floor broker for the market quote.
There are several different methods by which the floor broker and the clerk in the booth communicate.
In accordance with a first method, the floor broker would physically go to the booth and give the clerk a slip of paper. In other instances, (depending on exchange rules) the clerk would enter onto the floor to retrieve the slip of paper. In still other instances, messengers or runners would physically carry slips of paper between the floor brokers and clerks in the booth.
In accordance with a second method, the floor broker would communicate with the clerk in the booth by using a portable telephone (such as a cellular telephone).
In accordance with a third method, the clerk in the booth would listen to the activity on the floor of the exchange and would provide information to the trading desk based on what the clerk heard.
In accordance with a fourth method, the floor broker could convey information to a clerk, verbally or otherwise. That clerk could then make hand signals to the clerk in the trading booth.
In accordance with a fifth method, the floor broker himself would communicate with the clerk in the booth by using hand signals. A variation of this method is for a first clerk to receive the information conveyed by the hand signals and then reconvey the information to the second clerk in the booth by again using hand signals.
In all the variations, information may be furnished at the broker""s initiative or at the trading desk""s initiative. Traditionally, brokers would record information on slips of paper. The brokers would then hand the slips of paper to clerks on the floor of the exchange who would communicate the information in the slips of paper to the trading desk by telephone.
The traditional method described above suffers from various inherent drawbacks. First, the clerk in the booth simply does not have the time to engage in telephone conferences with more than a few individuals. Second, there may be substantial delays in transmitting information to the trading desk because the floor broker has to convey the slips of paper to the clerk, and the clerk has to reconvey this information to the trading desk. Third, the slips of paper are difficult to organize and are frequently lost. This may make it difficult to reconstruct quotes after the fact. This may lead to regulatory problems since many exchanges require that market quotes be preserved as evidence that market orders were executed at a reasonable price.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses hand-held computers with touch-sensitive screens. The information entered on the touch-sensitive screens is converted to graphic files. The graphic files are then transmitted to a computer server that is connected to the local area network of the subscribing firm. Computers that are connected by the local area network would display the handwritten information by using conventional Web browser software.
The preferred embodiment is an improvement over the prior art by permitting a mobile commercial actor, such as a broker, to transmit his customary jottings with almost no additional effort to the trading desk or to any subscriber who has a connected computer terminal. The floor broker can also receive requests from the trading desk with almost no additional effort.
The preferred embodiment also eliminates the delay inherent in the prior art of the broker giving slips of paper to the clerk and the clerk then conveying the information to the trading desk, In addition, the preferred embodiment establishes a system for organizing and storing in a database the information contained in the handwritten jottings.
The preferred embodiment permits quotations and other information to be sent to many different subscribers simultaneously. The over-all effect of the preferred embodiment is that it allows the trading desk or any subscriber who has a connected computer terminal to have access to information as if the individual who works at the trading desk were physically present on the floor of the exchange. As an added benefit, the preferred embodiment permits the reduction in the clerks employed in the floor booth.
In short, the preferred embodiment permits the rapid dissemination of information using electronic medium, yet at the same time complying with applicable rules and regulations